Wire-stretcher



WILLIAM T. WVILLIE, OF INDEPENDENCE, TEXAS.

WlRE-STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 566,261, dated August 18, 1896. Application filed December 6, 1895. Serial No. 571,296. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM T. WILLIE, of Independence, in the county of \Vashington and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in W'ire-Stretchers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

This invention has reference to wirestretchers, and the object of the same is to pro vide a device of simple and improved form and possessing great power for the purpose of making taut fence or other wires.

The invention consists in the novel features of construction hereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the stretcher. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, shown partly in section.

The frame of the stretcher consists of the rectangular end portions A, which are connected together by the transverse central frame portion B. A shaft 0 extends from end to end of the frame, one end of said shaft being formed with right-hand threads and the other end with left-hand threads arranged centrally upon the shaft for the purpose of rotating the same, and within the central frame portion B is the hand-wheelD. From the periphery of this wheel project the holds E, and for the purpose of rotating the same when turning too hard for operation with the hand alone I provide the lever F. This lever at its inner end has slots G, whereby the lever is held to the shaft, and between its ends, at a point beyond the outer periphery of the wheel, the same is formed with the angle or step H. Then the lever is not required for use, it may be moved to the position shown in Fig. 1; but when needed for turning the wheel the same is turned to the position shown in Fig. 2, in which case the said step or bend of the lever projects over the wheel-periphery and into engagement with one of the handholds, and by this means a strong leverage is obtained on the shaft and the same is readily rotated.

The inner opposite edges of the sections A are formed with beads I, and slidable on said beads are the heads J, which have the centrally arranged screw threaded openings through which the screw -Ishaft extends. Thus by rotating the shaft the heads are moved either toward or away from the center of the framework, as will be readily understood.

K designates wire loops which are extended mward through the end bars or extremities of the frame A and upon opposite sides of the screw-shaft and connected to the longitudinally-movable heads, as shown. The outer ends of these loops are formed into eyes L, to which the wire to be stretched may be readily attached, as will be understood.

By means of the device here shown and described a powerful pull may be exerted upon the wire and the same drawn to the tension desired.

The uses to which the machine described may be put are varied. It may, for instance. be used in splicing wires which have become broken, in which case the wire upon the respective sides of the break are secured to the loops and the wheel rotated, so as to stretch the wire tightly, when the same may be secured in any desired manner. It may be also used for removing slack from line-wire, as will readily occur to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.

The illustration of the invention is confined to the machineitself. The uses to which it may be put are apparent and well understood, and it is deemed unnecessary to show the same as in actual operation.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a wire-stretcher, the combination of a frame, a shaft mounted therein, wire-stretching devices adapted to be operated by the rotation of the shaft, the operating-wheel carrying peripheral projections, and the lever slotted longitudinally at its inner end where it is mounted upon the shaft and which is adapted between its ends to engage the peripheral projections of the wheel when pushed inward upon the shaft, and which when drawn outward clears the said projections, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a wire-stretcher, the combination of ICO the frame,the shaft oppositely screw-threaded at its respective ends and which is mounted in the frame, the heads movable in the frame by the rotation of the shaft, and the loops K, each loop being formed of a single piece of wire doubled, with the ends of the wire projected through the ends of the frame and secured to the slidable heads upon opposite sides of the shaft, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination of the shaft having its ends oppositely screw-threaded, the wirestretching heads adapted to be adjusted by the rotation of the shaft, the Wheel arranged centrally upon the shaft, the handholds projected radially from the periphery of the wheel, the lever loosely mounted upon the shaft, and the step or bend in the lever between its ends for engaging the lever with the said holds, substantially as shown and described.

4;. In a wire-stretcher, the combination of the end sections A of the frame, the central transverse section B, the shaft extended from end to end of the frame and oppositely screwthreaded at its respective ends, the heads slidable in the sections A of the frame by means of the said screw-shaft, the Wire-securing devices leading from said heads, and the shaft rotating wheel in the transverse portion B of the frame, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM T. WILLIE.

Witnesses:

II. L. WEAVER, J. S. BROWN 

